K-Pop is a genre that, during these last years, has gained a lot of strength; and it’s not a surprise. Korea created the genre to increase the income of their country, so it’s not only music, but it’s also a cultural and merchandising movement. Bands were formed and artists are trained for years to achieve perfection in dancing, singing, modeling, acting, composing, producing, and even rapping.
One of the bands that definitely stood up in South Korea and that stole the international spotlight is BTS, a band that introduced the world to a completely new genre and culture that has been dominating the charts, the trending lists on social media, and the fashion and beauty trends in the world. However, just like BTS, there are endless groups that are changing pop culture in the world. Here are some of the most important ones.
Take a look at this: Why did K-Pop suddenly become a worldwide sensation?
Big Bang
This group, formed by G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang, Daesung, and Seungri, debuted in 2006 under the label YG Entertainment, one of the ‘Big 3,′ the most important K-Pop producers.
This group is considered by many K-Pop fans the ‘Kings of K-pop’ and is a pioneer in the genre.
Big Bang has given a lot to talk about, especially because after four years, they had a comeback without promotions. Sadly for the fans, they only came back to present the song ‘Still Life’ with a very emotional video that touched the fans. Still, it’s unknown if this is a definite goodbye.
GOT7
This group debuted under JYP Entertainment in 2014. Unlike most K-Pop bands, GOT7 is formed by four Koreans and three foreigners: Jay B, Jinyoung, Youngjae, Yugyeom being the locals, and Jackson, BamBam, and Mark (from China, Thailand, and the United States respectively).
The band started as a martial arts group; soon became a multilingual group (Jackson Wang himself speaks Mandarin, Cantonese, English, Shanghainese, and Korean). Along with the other members they can communicate in Japanese and Thai as well.
Sadly, last year GOT7 decided to not renew their contract with their agency and tried their luck as soloists and actors, needless to say, they were a huge success; however, they promised their fans they will come back eventually because they managed to keep the rights of GOT7. Just recently, Mark and Jackson were in Korea, and rumor has it, they are preparing for the long-awaited comeback of one of the best groups that JYP has ever had.
TWICE
TWICE are nine beautiful women who will make you dance, sing, and fall in love with their uplifting beats. This group debuted in 2015 under JYP Entertainment and it was formed by five Koreans, three Japanese, and one Taiwanese woman.
Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu were selected through the SIXTEEN survival show, where the participants tested their talent and their ability to connect with the audience.
This band is now one of the most famous Girl Groups along with BLACKPINK; their videos have reached 500 million views on YouTube, and their name refers to the fact that these girls will conquer you twice, once through the eyes and once through the ears, through their amazing shows and awesome music.
Unfortunately, their contract expires this year, and even though it’s unknown if they plan to renew it, most of the fans are saying that they aren’t going to. So, you should give these amazing girls a chance; we promise, you will not regret it.
Stray Kids
Another JYP Entertainment group, this group once was formed by nine members: Woojin, Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin, and I.N. This group, just like TWICE, was formed through a survival show named ‘Stray Kids’ in 2017, but their debut was in 2018.
This year, Stray Kids was a frequent topic of conversation because they recently completed their second week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart With Biggest Sales Week of 2022 with their hit ‘Oddinary,’ They also reached 20M followers on Instagram.
They have gradually earned the title of ‘Kings of the Fourth Generation of K-Pop,’ and are also considered one of the most autonomous groups in the industry, as most of the members are always present in the composition and production of everything they plan to release. This group will undoubtedly leave a big mark on the K-Pop world.
NCT
Talking about this group is a bit complicated because they are the band with the largest number of members in K-Pop; 23 idols in this group have Lee Taeyong as a leader, who almost plays the role of a father. He even said in an interview that he has 22 children.
Neo Culture Technology debuted in 2016 under SM Town, another label belonging to the ‘Big 3′ group. The idea behind this group was to create a band of infinite members; these members are constantly shifting into different sub-units.
Only ten members out of the 23 are Koreans and are divided into four units, NCT U, NCT 127, NCT Dream, and Way V, which is the Chinese subunit. If this wasn’t enough, the SM Town debuted in the group Super M which doesn’t have any relation with the NCT subunits, but it does have four NCT members.
In 2020 they released “Resonance” where songs of each subunit were mixed, and all 23 members appeared in the video.
